AFRICAN CHAMPS TEAM SELECTED:
PHOTOS HERE
On behalf of the South African Canoe Polo committee, and the squad management and coaching team, I would like to thank you to all those who attended the second and final selection weekend for the South African Canoe Polo teams for the African Championships 2017. To those who couldn’t be with us, you were missed and we hope to see you soon. We were disappointed that a few of our squad members sustained injuries and weren’t able to play, and we hope you heal up quickly!
With the biggest ever squad and a lot of great players on the water, the coaches, managers and selectors have had their work cut out for them. We looked very carefully at a wide range of factors in making our decisions, including team balance and key positions, commitment, training, improvement and potential for further improvement, key skills, attitude and communication (on and off the water), knowledge of rules, ability to play as a team player, and game understanding. Please note that later in the 2017 there will be a new round of selections for the World Championships – the teams that have been currently selected are just for the African Championships. There were a number of tough decisions to be made and many of the players that are currently in the B teams have the potential to improve enough to make the final A teams that will be selected to attend the World Championships if the teams qualify by winning at African Champs and playing at a high enough level for the selection committee to be confident they will be able to play at a high enough level for a World Championship event, so we encourage you to use this as a learning opportunity and keep on working hard to improve your game, whichever team you will be playing for at the African Champs.
I have listed the players in order of the player numbers they have requested – the number which follows their name. If you have not yet let me know your preferred number, please check the list below and let me know which remaining number you would like.
South African U21 Women
1. Amy Peckett #1
2. Bronwyn Goode #2
3. Leslie Taylor #3
4. Cayleigh Shaw #4
5. Jade Starr #5
6. Khanyo Shange #6
7. Kayleigh Karam #7
South African Women
1. Megan Eckhart #4
2. Leigh du Plessis #5
3. Nosipho Mthembu #6
4. Caitlin MacKenzie #8
5. Daniella Afonso #9
6. Candice Austin
South African U21 Men A
1. Tristan Drummond #1
2. Coban-Dean Suttie #2
3. Niel Burger #4
4. Troy Drummond #5
5. Daneel van Wyk #6
6. Matthew Eckhart #8
7. Jason Boulle
8. Ben Louw
South African U21 Men B
1. Michael Lake #2
2. Bryce Lawson #3
3. Xander Austin #4
4. Ivan Kahl
5. Anrico Heystek
6. David Smith
7. Ruhan Marx
South African Men A
1. David Rodrigues #1
2. Chris de Bree #2
3. Nicholas Weeks #3
4. Dean Oellerman #5
5. Dale Morphew #7
6. Clive Whitton #10
7. Kevin Rodrigues
8. Divan Barnard
South African Men B
1. Mark Brown #2
2. Wiehan Weber #9
3. Warrick Holland
Additional players to be confirmed
A huge congratulations to you all!
Kit
All teams in Canoe Polo have to have the same colour on most of their equipment, and the regulations around this are very strict. We try to be pragmatic and make this as simply as possible for South African teams, so that once you have the kit the colours will not change in future years. We are providing you with all the information you need regarding team kit now so that you have some months in which to prepare and order equipment if needed – if I have missed anything please let me know!
Boats: all boats will need to be black for all teams for African Champs. If your boat is not black, please ensure you purchase enough sticky vinyl to cover the entire top of your boat, with no colour showing and enough spare in case of damage during games. If you still need to order a boat, please contact Kayak Centre (for fibreglass or composite boats) or Fluid Kayaks (for plastic boats). Please note that no current plastic boats can be used at a World Championships. Kayak Centre is an approved ICF Manufacturer and their boats can be used at a World and Continental Championships.
Paddles: please ensure you paddles comply with the current ICF regulations. If you have any chips or damage to your paddles, they will need to be repaired before African Champs or they will not pass scrutineering.
Spraydecks: Lizzard are currently producing much better quality Canoe Polo spraydecks then previously at a very reasonable cost of R380. While international decks can be ordered, they are expensive and would need to be shipped. You can order Lizzard decks online: http://www.lizzardonline.com/home/199-Spraydeck.html
Lifejackets: we will be ordering South African team lifejackets for those who wish – we will get exact quotes in the coming weeks, depending on how many people order, but they are quite expensive – in the region of R2,500. They are exceptional quality and are from one of the top European manufacturers, Peak UK. They will last many years, provide excellent body protection and are very comfortable; they are the ones that are always used by all SA Canoe Polo teams at World and African Championships. It is NOT compulsory to purchase these, as we are also getting quotes on South African bibs that can be worn on top of a standard Canoe Polo lifejacket, which all players who do not own South African lifejackets will need to contribute some money towards. Please let me know before next Sunday if you would like to purchase a lifejacket.
Faceguards for helmets are finally available, at a cost of approximately R350 (exact price will be confirmed next week). They are very strong, and meet the new legal requirements. They will be available at Canoe Concepts in JHB and Kayak Centre in KZN in the next few weeks.
Helmets: all teams have to have identically coloured helmets, and as a complicating factor, black carbon and black plastic are NOT considered the same colour! For the purposes of African Champs this difference will be disregarded, so you will need either a black plastic helmet (Wild Water for example) or black carbon (which can be purchased from Clive at Kayak Centre, or there are ). Please note, however, that for World Champs the men’s team will use carbon helmets, and it is likely that the U21 teams will too, so if you are investing in a helmet it might be worth considering. There are also international manufacturers of carbon helmets but again import costs are high.
Helmet numbers: yellow helmet numbers will be sourced for all teams – they usually cost around R4 each and you will need one on each side of your helmet of a regulation size.
Rashvests: each team member will need to purchase a standard team yellow rashvest. We are busy sourcing quotes and will get back to you with further information.
I will email later in the week regarding travel and accommodation logistics.
Congratulations again to all the players, and thank you to the coaching and management teams!
Many thanks,
Laurel
0761275270